‘The Pieta’ by Michelangelo, 1498 (Religious Sculpture in Rome)

when was it sculpted?

1498

‘The Pieta’ means the…

‘pity of Christ’

Made from…

Carrara marble

Mary seated in an…

unpolished throne, this contradicts the figures that have been highly polished

what structure is used to anchor the figures?

pyramidal

Mary is significantly larger than…

Christ, focus on Mary, large figure and drapery allows the figure to hold him up and support him

Mary is depicted as a…

• a youthful girl, too young to be the mother of the dead Christ

• Created to make her look serene and sorrowful, works with aesthetics

• His excuse was that she was a virgin therefore she cannot age

• ‘If someone is truly chaste they will never age’ - Vasari

His head lulls back, alluding to a…

broken neck highlighting his lifelessness

One would expect rigamortis, instead his body is…

• soft and limp as opposed to rigid

• He almost looks as though he is asleep or in a slumber, alludes to his resurrection

how is his resurrection alluded to?

• through drapery laying between his fingers, something vulnerable about it as though he is a child

• His toe looks as though it is slightly flexed

what does he use to to undercut and create folds in the fabric?

bow drill from antiquity

Mary wears a strap and on it…

Michelangelo has signed his name

who was the commissioner of the work?

Jean de Billheres, he was a cardinal, high up in the church

where was it to be housed?

• in a religious building in Rome, St Peter's Basilica

• To inspire prayer and religious devotion

what is significant about the way Mary holds Christ?

• His muscle or flesh is pushed up, highlighting his lifeless weight

• Her fingers are splayed, exerting herself to support him

• She is holding onto him with a layer of drapery between her hand and his skin

• He isn’t directly touched to suggest his sacred nature

Her left hand is held out, as though to…

• present him, almost an accusatory moment

• Her upturned hand suggests her benign overwhelmed, a sense of being helpless

they are idealised figures, a nod to…

Neoplatonism - the belief that through contemplating ideal beauty one could come close to imagining the perfection of the divine